Finding My Truth
by LSUcajun25
Summary: Laura was an outcast, singled out and looked down on. She was different and had no one to tell her otherwise. Until fate happened and she finds the truth about herself and a man named Goku who turned out to be the answer to her unanswered prayers. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

*Author's note: I do not own DBZ or any of it's material. But some characters I have created myself and only for myself. This is my rendition of DBZ so please respect it. Thank you!*

If I could trace back every time an ugly comment was thrown my way or weird glances were directed at me and have a dime for each, I would be rich. Probably more than rich. Maybe even stinking, bloody rich that I could ship myself off on the fastest jet plane to the most exotic beach and sip margaritas until I was too much in bliss to know better. Everyone would be willing to service me with anything as if I were a queen.

But I wasn't. Nor would I ever be.

So the stares would continue and so would the comments and never would I see my financial status grow because of it. Not that I expected it would anyway if you wanted to get logical. Dreaming never really seemed to hurt too many people. Not unless you had one of those crazy ideas that led to your own destruction. I'm not the brightest crayon in the box but I do have some knowledge of things. Maybe more than a lot of people here in the deep southern parts of the US of A. Like, how it was rude to stare and make fun at people who can't help by the way they looked.

So, it is why I was sitting here in this half demolished café sipping on a cup of coffee that must have been sitting on a coffee stand that had been turned off for a few hours. I wasn't completely surprised that the young little waitress didn't do me the honors of at least throwing it into the microwave for a quick warmth to knock the ice crystals off the rim on the cup. Nor did it surprise me that she hadn't bothered to check and see if I needed anything. I was an object that they had no choice but to serve and yet hoped would leave the area before I could at least get comfortable. A part of me enjoyed making them uncomfortable. For me, they get a little taste of what I get everyday.

I dipped my spoon once again in the frosted cup of coffee and turned it in circles, making that all too annoying sound of metal hitting porcelain with every swirl. I sat close to the window in the far corner of the café, watching people scramble everywhere as a sheet of cold rain began to pelt down on them and the concrete they were walking on. It was going to be a bad one today. The clouds had rolled in much too quickly, casting a dark grey shadow over the town, making it almost look 5 hours later into the day. It didn't take long for the lightening to start flashing followed by the window-rattling sound of thunder. Unlike those normal people, I could smell and feel rain coming before the weather channel could even broadcast it. Of course, that wasn't nearly what was so strange about me anyway.

The little waitress was busy buffing the bar but keeping a nervous yet glaring eye on me. So I decided to freak her out just a bit.

Leaning to one side, I grinned and let my long brown tail unravel around my waist and just hung it at my hip, swaying it carelessly like a cat sitting casually on a window ceil. I threw my waist length blonde hair over my shoulder and threw the little waitress a sidelong grin and wagged my tail at her. Immediately, she squeaked and whipped around and headed back for the kitchen where I was sure to report her freak sighting. It wouldn't be long before the head guy would stalk over to me nervously and "kindly" ask me if I could leave the place for it was making everyone else a bit uncomfortable.

So, with a not so heavy heart, I stood and dumped my change on the table and wrapped my fuzzy tail back around my waist and headed for the door and out into the stinging rain. I didn't mind it so much nor did I mind getting wet. My apartment wasn't but a block away and there was no point in trying to hitch a ride. I hadn't the funds for a car and plus, walking gave me exercise.

"That's her! Her name is Laura and she's the local freak around here. She has a real tail! An actual tail like a dog!" Someone said under the sidewalk of a nearby catwalk. It didn't take me long to guess who it was making herself busy to tell everyone about me as if she were the local tour guide for the white house or something. Ms. Maybell Hixon.

"No one knows where she came from but it is so strange. She is a striking beauty that could be posted on every magazine but with a tail, she's just a strange individual! Everyone is afraid to find out what she really is." The old buzzard chirped.

Well, if they would ever find out, I would have sure liked to have known. I didn't even know what was my purpose of having a tail in the first place. I was told on plenty occasions that I was the most beautiful woman they have ever seen and at 18, I could do whatever I wanted. Except, I had a tail and had been asked to be…pretty much a science specimen for poking and probing purposes. Not really my idea nor was I gonna suck it up and let them bust me open like a rat in biology. I had a little more self respect than that even if others didn't. I knew damn well I didn't fit right anywhere but that was the key to adapting. Too bad I was the only one willing to do so. Everyone else seemed to want me in a museum or shipped to another planet. It was okay though. I was use to the solitude and had come to enjoy it.

I rounded the corner and covered my eyes while digging around for my apartment key. Once in hand, I climbed the long ironed stairs all the way up on the third floor to my little green door marked with faded gold numbers of "45". Even before I could shove my key into the lock, I could already hear that friendly and familiar scrapping on the other side of the door followed by a whimper.

"Keep your tail on, Max, I'm coming." I smiled to myself as I crept open the door but enough for a brown and white Basset Hound puppy to crowd around my feet and jump up too my knees.

"Hey, boy. You know we could get in a whole bunch of trouble if Mr. Evans saw you. Get back inside." I said and hurried to close the door behind me with the puppy happily trotting ahead.

It had been by pure chance that I spotted the little runt while sitting on the park bench one day. No one except me had seen a ball of fuzz hiding behind an old dumpster and me being a dog person, couldn't help but investigate.

He had been all alone, probably just dropped off and left there to fend for his young self and had just about failed at it. His fur has been matted to his skin but not enough to show his bones. The little color I had seen was mostly covered with mud and soot but it was enough to win my heart. Without even trying, I scooped him up and carried him all the way back to my apartment where I bathed him and then shaved all his fur off so he could grow a new coat. I had fallen in love immediately.

Now after 5 months, the pup was much healthier and much stronger with his coat so clean it almost was too bright. I had named him Maximus for he was a fighter and a winner at that.

We had that much in common.

Two stray animals looking for a place to be accepted but had only found abuse and ended up finding one another. Max was my best friend and probably would always be.

Shaking off the drops of rain out of my hair, I headed for the kitchen where I knew Max would follow to announce his obvious hunger. I wasn't disappointed as he sat patiently by his bowl and wagged his long tail happily and expectantly. I rolled my eyes but gave him a loving scratch behind the ears making his tongue hand over one side in delight.

"You seriously need to stop scratching the door like that, Max. How would I explain that to Evans?" I asked the dog and got a lop-sided doggy grin from him as I dumped Kibble into his large bowl.

"Yeah, I thought you'd say that."

Not too much for conversation but he was better than talking to the other snotty people around here. They were too busy looking down their snotless noses at me and cutting me down to size. Not that I cared. I had Max and couldn't have been happier.

I kicked off my shoes and headed to my shower where I could wash the day off of me. Then make my nest and just forget about everything today. It was routine for me and it was what made me happy in ways.

The water was nice and hot when I climbed in and instantly began soaking up my long hair and tail. I wasn't setting much of a fashion trend with this thing but it was part of me and I would never know why. And I was too stubborn to go to the doctor and have them tell me it was a birth defect and that they would have to remove it surgically but not before signing a contract with the Discovery Channel and broadcasting the surgery live on TV.

"I'm just destined to be a weirdo." I told myself for the millionth time.

Once clean, I dried my hair and slipped on my tank top pjs and matching pants and headed back into the living room where I planned on watching a little TV with Max. He was already perched on his side of the couch when I flopped down next to him.

"Waiting for me?"

His tail began wagging.

"Not Animal Planet again tonight, okay?"

He gently nudged my hand so I can rub his head.

"Can't persuade me, pup. I have enough of seeing Caesar Millian try and teach dogs AND people how to behave. Can't we watch maybe an action movie?"

Max gave out a tiny whimper.

"Don't give me that look." I said as he laid his head on my arm and gave me the biggest set of real puppy dog eyes as he whimpered very silently.

"Alright! Fine! But if it's a re-run, I'm changing it." I sighed and turned on the TV and began flipping. My finger stopped suddenly when I landed on the local news where the news broadcasters were frantically talking about a event that just broke headline news.

"_We interrupt for a newly developed situation that has just occurred. Strange explosions have been occurring in South City where it appeared to be an asteroid. Police were on the scene when they noticed that it was not a meteor but a ship that had crashed into the ground where it has left a crater large enough to…"_ The woman continued to rattle on as the camera man from a helicopter filmed the sighting below. It was indeed a huge hole that had looked to be an explosion of some kind but deep in the center was a round spaceship like object just sitting there.

"Well, that's new." I said to myself which even caused Max to pick up some.

I watched as the camera zoomed in on the object in the center of the crater and declared that it was indeed a spaceship of some kind.

"_We're live with actual footage of the scene with Tom Brandy covering the disturbance. What do you see, Tom"_

"_Well, Susie, it appears to be a spaceship having crashed into the center of town, causing a huge crater that authorities are having a hard time investigating. We do not know of yet if this thing is life threatening or maybe just a ploy." He continued._

"_They should call NASA." I laughed to myself while rubbing Max's floppy ears._

_Suddenly, the small spaceship let out a gust of smoke as what looked to be the door slide open and let out even more smoke. I was on the edge of my seat as something began to emerge from the ship and gasped when it finally appeared._

_It was a man dressed in weird armor of some sort with jet black hair that hung down to his knee caps. He looked ferocious and ready to kill. And before I could grasp the concept of what was happening, he unraveled a tail from around his waist and let it sway at his feet._

_My heart stopped._

_Max must have felt my reaction for he began to whimper even more and nudge my now limp arm. I didn't have it in me to comfort him. I didn't have anything to comfort me._

_I watched in complete shock as the guy began slowly lifting into the air and land very gently on the middle of the street causing the people to stare and back away from him. And with one simple move, he lifted one hand and fired a fire from his palm and sent it sailing into a building. The explosion was so massive that the helicopter had trouble keeping midair and the camera man nearly dropped the camera._

"_What in the…" I could feel the walls of my apartment shake from the explosion. Max began to cry out loudly._

"_Listen to me, useless creatures of Earth. If you want anymore people to die then someone will help me locate a few friends of mine." He announced in a high pitched and puny voice, not at all what you would expect from a beefed up guy like him._

_He stood there with so much confidence that it shook my very core. I could almost feel the energy radiating from his body but of course that was impossible. I was nearly 15 minutes away from this guy. What I felt was absolute fear of what this dude was capable of._

"_He has a tail just like me." I said to myself while trying to understand what exactly was happening here. "He may know what I am." But as I said it, I regretted it. He was nothing good and had every intention on harming innocent people and that was something I was not._

"_Then there is only one way to find out." And without thinking logically, I slipped on my sandals and headed for the door with Max close in tow._

_I didn't have the slightest clue what drove me to the exact scene that terrorized me so but I had this feeling that this guy could tell me who I was and maybe my purpose._

_It didn't take me long to get there and when I did, people were scattered everywhere and around the injured building. The guy was still shouting orders and threatening people as I nudged myself through the crowd. I stopped short when I stared at him from behind and this time there was no denying the energy I felt coming from him. No one seemed to be hit by this and it only drove my suspicions further. Was I able to sense my own kind?_

_He was like a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any second if nothing was to be done. I felt the sudden need and urge to take him on if he so tried again._

_That knowledge nearly took my breath away. I wasn't a fighter nor was I a fan of violence but something about him brought it completely out of me. Almost instinctional. _

"_Hey you!" I shouted before I could realize it. I watched as he slowly turned towards me with a sneer across his face. He was bigger than the camera had shown but it did nothing for my pounding heart._

_And to prove my worth, I let my tail unravel and swing behind me. His eyes immediately grew wide as he faced me completely and almost instantly, my heart dropped. He knew what I was and seeing him before me, I knew too._

"_Who are you, woman?"_

"_I'll tell you if you leave everyone here alone." But my voice shook at my statement. What was I doing? I couldn't face off with this guy!_

"_Then you die with them." And with a horrible grin, he pointed his palm towards me and began forming a fireball just like before. Except it was aimed directly at me._


	2. Chapter 2

I couldn't get to the scene fast enough. I knew from the moment I felt that energy, it was no good. The news on Bulma's TV had confirmed that. People were already dead and were about to have more casualties.

I pushed my body to go faster through the air, flying at an alarming rate while Krillan, my best friend, tried to keep up.

"Who do you think it could be, Goku? He's not even from this planet and yet…he kind of looked a lot like you." He announced knowing very well that wasn't a compliment.

"I'm not sure but if we don't get there now, more people will die." And I could feel another strange but weak power level. It wasn't human that was for sure but 10 times as strong. Nothing to be worried about but as I concentrated, the fainter it got.

"Someone is getting hurt right now. I can feel an energy slipping away."

"I feel it too." Krillan answered solemnly.

It didn't take the both of us all that long to begin seeing the damage already done. Buildings were beginning to collapse, roads were broken to pieces and vehicles were turned upside down or thrown into other standing buildings. It was mass chaos. But my focus was getting to the dying energy I felt. Whoever this guy was, he didn't mind the killing of innocent people.

When I landed, I shoved my way through a large growing crowd and followed my senses to the main center where the guy I sensed and seen on TV stood holding what looked to be a woman by her small neck almost above his head. She was half conscious but seemed to be awake enough to try and swing her legs far enough to kick him.

"Still got some fight in ya, huh? I'll shut you up once and for all." And with that, he threw her from his hands just as a floppy eared dog came charging and tried biting his leg. He kicked the dog hard enough to send him flying and land almost near the girl where he whimpered in obvious pain.

"Krillan! Hold him off!" I yelled and ran to the injured girl where she lay where she had landed.

She looked to have been wearing her pajamas but were now torn in all places and soiled with dirt and blood. Her hair blonde hair hid most of her bruised face but from the little I could see, she was a very pretty girl. Maybe even beautiful. Maybe even the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My anger doubled 10 fold as I realized she had been the target of this villain's wrath and for what? What could this girl possibly do to drive him to such standards? And that's when I saw it.

Lying unmoving behind her was a long, brown tail about 6 feet long. It nearly stopped my heart completely as I realized what she was. She was just like me.

The injured dog whined again from behind me and crawled to his apparent master. He had done his best to protect her.

"It's okay now, fella. I'll take care of things. You guard her now."

I stood up to my full height of 6'2 and turned to meet almost eye to eye with the enemy. Unfortunately, Krillan had been somewhat right about the appearances. He looked an awful lot like me except with long black hair and stood maybe a foot taller.

"Kakarot." He said and began laughing. "Brother! I was beginning to think you were dead after all." He then looked down at the girl. "I don't know who she is and where she came from but she wasn't much of a fighter. Kept me well entertained though."

With one quick motion, I teleported in front of him and elbowed him in the face, sending him flying backwards into an already damaged building. I shocked even myself at my abruptness but the idea that he would harm this girl for no reason had set me off. She was the power level I had felt slowly fading. She had been trying to help these people and in return, nearly killed her. He would pay for the destruction of the town but even moreso for the attempted murder of this girl.

And who was Kakarot?

"He called you 'brother', Goku. What is he talking about?" Krillan asked beside me.

"I don't have the slightest clue but we'll soon find out." I said as the debris from the building began to slowly elevate off the ground and swirl around the form walking out of the rubble. This wasn't going to be an easy battle at all.

"I should have known you would grown soft, brother. It is true that you failed your mission." He spat the blood from his mouth on the ground. "No worries though. I'll finish the job and you along with it."

"I don't know who you are but I am not your brother." I answered him with a little menace. Even though I never really knew of my birth and my heritage, I know there could be no way I was kin to this guy.

But then my mind began to wonder.

Grandpa Gohan had told me once that when he found me, I was an awful child and would bite and fight him all the time. Then one day he was trying to at least feed me when I began fighting him much more than usual and fell out of his arms, hitting my head and knocking me out. Since then, I had become nicer and gentler and never fought him again.

I looked at the unmoving woman on the ground and spotted her tail. Had she not noticed and changed before?

It was one night when my grandfather had let me play outside when it happened. The night of a full moon I happened to be outside when I began changing. I don't recall much but when I awoke, my grandfather was dead. I had killed him by my own hands.

Once figured out, I understood that nights of the full moon would change me into a giant beast ape that crushed everything in my path. Grandpa Gohan included. I was unstoppable until someone was able to come close enough to cut my tail from my backside and turn me back to normal. It happened 3 times and once the 3rd time happened, my tail never returned again.

I glanced at the girl again. Where had she come from? She was just…

I felt my jaw crack just a little as my body went sailing into a large tree and landed with a plop next to the broken tree trunk. Man, he hit hard!

"What's the matter, Kakarot? Can't take a little beating from your big brother? You're a disgrace to our family! We sent you here for one purpose only and you couldn't even do that."

I stood on steady legs and dragged my wrist across my mouth to clean off the blood. Could this guy really be my brother? With looks considered, it was possible.

"My name is not Kakarot. It's Goku. And again, you are not my brother." I walked back to face him.

"Your name is Kakarot and I am your brother Radditz. You look too much like our father to be anyone else and it is so obvious by your power that you are what I say you are. Where is your tail?" He asked when he saw no sign of the long furry tail connected to me.

"It fell off. Tell me, Radditz," I emphasized his name. "What exactly am I? What do we call ourselves?"

Radditz looked at me almost in shock and it took him a few minutes to respond but with more harshness.

"You are a saiyan! How could you not know any of this? You were born on the planet Vegeta along with all our people. Our father is the great and noble warrior Barddock."

It hadn't really interested me much for all I could really concentrate on was the girl for some unknown reason. Had she been here all along and I never felt her presence? And how did Radditz know where to find her?

All I knew was that this battle needed to be over now before everything else got out of hand.

I positioned myself in a fighting stance and signaled to him with my index finger to bring it. "I honestly don't care who you say I am. I know what I am here and that is all that counts and I will not let you harm anymore people as long as I draw breath! You will pay what you did to everyone."

Raddits didn't waste time in charging and it was strangely easy to deflect him. He was clumsy in his posture and used all his strength to try and hit me, wearing himself out even faster. He had no strategic plan to fighting; no technique.

No grace and apparent no love.

It felt like mere moments until I had him on the ground trying to crawl away from me in fear of my killing him.

"How could you be so strong? It's impossible!"

I glared. "Nothing is impossible when you work hard for what you believe and I believe in keeping peace here and not killing anyone. Now, crawl back into your little spaceship and go back to where you came from and I better not ever see you again or I'll finish what was started."

Radditz let out one angry yell but unwillingly complied and climbed back into his spaceship and blasted up into the air until completely out of sight. The crowd around me remained silent until someone yelled to bring the paramedics around and start shipping people to the hospital which made the screaming and yelling commence.

"Goku!" I heard Krillan shout and turned to find him kneeling next to the woman that had been so badly injured. The dog was still trying to guard her but it was obvious his pain was winning his futile battle in protecting her.

"We need to bring her to Bulma and Dr. Briefs!" I scooped her up into my arms, careful not to re-injure anything and had a striking feeling of something I had never experienced before. She felt weightless in my arms but it suddenly felt so right that I hold her this way. In a strange way, it was like it was meant t be.

I found myself gazing into her beautiful face, feeling tormented that I let Radditz live after what he did to her. How could I have never known she existed?

"Looks as though the dog will be coming with us. He sure is protective of her. May even be her own pet." Krillan broke into my daydream, snapping me back to reality.

"Best bring him, Krillan. After this, she will need all the comfort she can get. I'll have Bulma look at him too. He's favoring a leg."

Krillan nodded and gently rubbed the dogs ears and began talking to him as he slowly lifted the dog into his arms. He went willingly.

"Goku! My God! You guys are safe. I began to worry…" Bulma rushed out of her office and stopped mid-step as she saw the precious cargo I was carrying. With hair almost a blue color tied carelessly behind her head and down her back, she was the perfect image of a regular college girl. But she had been my best friend since I was a kid. A lot of common sense I knew now was because of her. "Who is she?" Then she gasped. "She has a tail!"

"Which is why we brought her back. She tried to take on Goku's brother."

Bulma's words staggered out. "Goku's brother? You have a brother?!"

"Apparently so." I smiled. "I took care of the matter though. If he really is my brother, then I am better off without him." But I didn't want to talk about that anymore. This girl was more important. "We need to get this girl some medical attention. And," I nudged my head to Krillan. "this fella here too. It may be her dog."

"You're right. Bring them both inside."

I couldn't really contain myself. I had too much to absorb to begin understanding everything that had happened. First, this guy arriving to Earth and claiming he is my brother. Causing destruction with every glance and killing innocent people. How could I be possibly of any relation to that creep?

I just couldn't wrap my mind around it all. Saiyanjin? Is that what I was? I always knew I was not an ordinary person but to be of a completely different race? And did I have more family out there somewhere?

Sitting down, I massaged my aching temples and let out an exasperated sigh. It took hardly nothing for me to bring him down but if there were more than just him? What had he been after? And what of the girl?

A whining came from beside me as I realized the Bassett hound was patched up with medical tape around his front paws and around his middle. He looked even more sad than a regular Bassett usually did. My hand slowly stretched out the dog and began rubbing his long floppy ears. He groaned in satisfaction. What was keeping Bulma so long in there? Was the girl going to make it? There was so much I needed to ask her.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Bulma announced as she walked out of the room where the girl had been laid. I immediately jumped to my feet.

"Is she okay?"

"Calm down, Goku, she's fine. A few broken bones and a good knock on the head but other than that, she'll recover. If she were any other person, the trauma would have been worse. But she's extremely lucky." She eyed me carefully. "And how do you fair?"

"Never got hurt. He just confused the mess out of me."

She laughed. "That's not very hard to do." She said and sat down. "This opens a whole new chapter for you now. This girl shows up and so does this brother of yours. You knew nothing of your life before us and now you should have a world of questions and doubts. I can do some research being that I now have a name to what you are." Bulma shook her head. "Saiyanjin. You would think we would have heard of a race."

I sat down next to her and subconsciously began rubbing the dogs head again. "It does kind of explain a few things about myself. My aggression as a child before I had knocked my head. The space pod I had landed in. My tail," I started to daydream. "I was sent here for a purpose. But when Grandpa Gohan found me, everything changed. Everything about me. I just became…Goku. Not this Kakarot person that Radditz guy was calling me."

Bulma placed a hand on my shoulder and locked eyes with me. "Aren't you at all curious to know of your past life? Who your folks were and what were your people like?"

I searched her eyes then let mine fall to my lap. "I have 2 choices. Either my people were like Radditz or like her." I pointed to the door that closed in the injured girl. "That's all I got."

With a sigh, Bulma reclined in the wooden chair and stared at the door as I had been of where the woman was recovering. "You may have been like Radditz before you even knew it. But as you say, that bump on the head must have snapped you into another state of mind. You wouldn't harm a fly and that puts you in a totally different category from him. And if she's anything like you," she nudged her head towards the door. "then you'll know what you truly are; the both of you."

I could only listen in wonder. Radditz could have been searching for the girl for some odd reason and ended up finding me. Or vice versa. But how had he known to find us here on Earth?

"I shouldn't have let him go until I had answers. Now everything is out in the open with no way to put everything together. He called me a Saiyan but I have no clue what that means. What was my purpose and why was I sent here? What was her purpose and could she know anything about…everything?" I knew it was wishful thinking even as I said it out loud.

"You'll know in time." Bulma smiled and patted my hand. "You can go in and see her. She should be waking up very soon and try not to berate her with questions the minute she opens her eyes."

I nodded and stood. The dog immediately stood up as well on all fours and followed me into the room. What I saw there cut me straight through.

The girl was lying stiff on the hard mattress with her head tightly wrapped securely. One arm was lying above the sheets where I could see Bulma had managed to put a decent size splint to keep her arm at an arch. Nearing closer, I noticed that her upper torso was wrapped as well all the way up to her collar bone. Broken arm, broken ribs and a concussion all thanks due to my supposed brother. But besides all the bandages, I couldn't stop myself from gazing at her. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on even in the state she was in. I couldn't help imagining what color eyes she had and how her voice sounded when she spoke. How did her laugh sound in complete merriment?

I shook my head and sat down in a chair near her bed and continued to study her. She was just as much a mystery as this whole ordeal was. She had no way of defending herself against Radditz and yet she had attempted to. She was a warrior even if she hadn't known it. Just like myself.

The dog plopped himself next to me and began whining once more but not for a rub. He saw the unconscious girl and immediately knew something was horribly wrong. It was almost sad.

She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Even all wrapped up and bruised, she managed to take my breath away.

With carefulness, I lifted her small hand and placed it in mine. My heart gave a sudden twist at our skin contact that I almost let go. Why did she captivate me so? I knew then that I not only wanted but needed her to recover. She may have the information about who I was but more importantly, I wanted to know more about her. Just her. Never had I ever felt this way and for someone I not only did not know but have never set on eyes. We had never spoken or looked at each other. More likely, she had never seen me.

My hand found its way up to her face where I just barely brushed my knuckles across her smooth skin. She was angel soft to the very touch. She gave out a moan and leaned her head into my hand where I sat frozen in my chair, not daring to move in fear I would hurt her. And very slowly, her eyes fluttered and then slid open, revealing a pair of the greenest eyes I had ever seen. She was more than beautiful. She was striking.

She looked blank for just a moment then turned her head slowly back to my direction and stared hard at me. Then she looked confused. "Who…. are you?"

Her voice was of a soft baritone but so feminine that it sliced right through my already pounding heart. I was almost breathless.

"My name is Goku. You are in our small hospital. How do you feel?" I blurted out then remembered what Bulma had warned me about with the questions.

The girl moaned again and shut her eyes for a brief second then looked at me again. "What happened? I…remember….there was a man…" She couldn't finished as her hand lifted to her head and then noticed the condition of her other arm. Panic replaced confusion. "What happened to me?"

"You were badly hurt by that guy. It's okay now. He's gone and you're safe." I said but knew that even though I may have calmed her about Radditz, it still did no justice to the position she was in now. But no harm in trying, at least that was what I told myself.

How in the world had I ended up here in this strange room with this guy sitting beside me as if he worried about my health? Which lead me back to my original question: what happened to me?

"You were badly injured by that guy. It's okay now. He's gone and you're safe." He said but even still I saw the worry in this handsome guy's face.

I tried sitting up but immediately regretted it as my head began pounding as if a cinder block continue to knock me upside my head. Looking down, I could also see that my right arm was in no better shape. A horrible looking splint slanted my arm at a 90 degree angle and kept it there with no use of joint movement.

"That guy was trying to kill me. I don't know what brought me to that sight in the first place." I admitted then kept quiet. I didn't know this guy and revealing anything to him would prove another bad misjudgment on my behalf. Lord knew that I was not capable of fighting that other dude but I was in even worse states now as it was.

"Do you remember anything? What he told you?"

I had trouble answering him as I really got a good look at the guy beside me. He was beyond handsome but shared some similarities with Radditz which caused me to swallow a good scream. His hair was jet black but unlike Mr. Badguy, his would spike out in a few directions giving him an innocent boyish look covered by a man's physic. He wore an odd uniform of orange that looked to be some sort of karate outfit with a royal blue undershirt with matching wrist bands and sash around his waist. He was almost breathtaking. It had caught me a bit off guard.

"He didn't really say much. He saw me and had me by the throat the next minute. After that, was a blur. I can remember only getting thrown across and hearing Max…" I froze then sat up as much as I could. "Max! Oh my God, Max! My dog! He killed my dog!" I could feel the tears beginning to form in my eyes and didn't care how embarrassing it was. I had lost my best friend after all.

"You mean him?" The guy Goku asked and lifted Max from the floor and onto his lap. My heart gave a painful leap as I saw him with his wrapped paw and belly but a tail wagging nonetheless. "I thought he might have belonged to you. He wouldn't leave your side once Radditz left. I'm afraid he took a little beating himself." Goku smiled and rubbed Max's ears affectionately.

I swallowed the tears and smiled. "Thank you, Goku. For saving him," Then I grew serious. "and me as well I am sure. How did you manage that?"

The question apparently had caught him off guard for he blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head with one hand.

"To make a long story short, I knew how to fight him. I was trained in Martial Arts and can do a lot of things normal people can't do." He hesitated but left it at that. What normal people couldn't do? What did that mean?

I didn't bother asking. I was alive and so was Max and I could go home. Hopefully now if I was lucky.

"What is your name?" He asked and smiled again, making a small shiver run down my spine. My goodness, but he was cute.

"Laura. And again, thank you for everything you've done for me. I don't know how you managed to do it but I'm grateful that you did." I said honestly and realized he was no longer looking at me but my tail that had slipped out from beneath me and was swaying casually. I quickly snatched it and blushed profusely. "You must think me a freak. It's okay if you do, everyone else thinks that way. Yet that guy Radditz had one just like me. Was that why he attacked me?" It was a rhetorical question but it still made me wish for an answer.

"He attacked you because he thought you a threat. You are one like him and he thought you were here to stop him. I think your instincts kicked in when you saw him hurting the people and the city." He said and was careful with his next words. "You see, you and him are the same in species. As well as I. I am one like you too and the tail is a dead give away. He called us Saiyans. I don't really know what that means except that it is a totally different race from the humans. The only difference with me is that I lost my tail a long time ago. We are a lot stronger and more adapt to living in harsher lives. We can take a severe beating and almost walk away with scratches." He paused then eyed me, knowing full well that I took one hell of a beating. "Of course, in order to master that, you need the correct training. That is what I learned."

The look on my face must have been of a skeptical one because none of it made a bit of sense. I always knew there was something else odd about me except for the obvious tail hanging off my backside but more?

Then I remembered. My adoptive parents had never let me go outside when the moon was full. They called it bad look or some superstitious outlook but I never thought it weird until now. Even after I left them, I never went outside on a full moon and it began to plague me to find out why. I received no answer and my parents never wanted to tell me. Google was useless as well and of course I wasn't going to try no doctor. I had already figured out my reasons why.

Then there was the senses I would get. Energy that I could pick up that belonged to something. At first I thought I just had a more keen and deeper sense of a bad feeling but it vibrated in every part of my body and even made the hair on the back of my neck stand. Some of it was peaceful and others, like Radditz, shook me to the very core of my bones. Even sitting here now, I could feel the calm and peaceful energy radiating off Goku.

Before I could answer him and tell him my secrets, the door opened and a tall blue hair young woman walked in and smiled at me from the doorway.

"Ah good. You are awake. I was beginning to wonder if you would wake up soon." She said and laid a hand on my forehead then checked my bandages. "My name is Bulma if you are curious. My father is the doctor here but when he's busy, I take over. You took quite a beating there. Can you see good? Hear?"

I could only nod and watch as she checked my heart beat with her stethoscope then checked my arm. When everything appeared good to her, she sat down on the other side and patted my good hand. "I knew you would be alright. If you're anything like this guy here," She pointed to Goku. "then you can take on anything."

But I wasn't anything like him. I was just me and I wanted to go home with Max.

I said as much. "I'd like to go home now. I appreciate everything you've done for me but I think I can manage on my own." I tried to sit up again but this time Bulma lightly pushed me back down.

"I'm afraid not. Radditz will try and come back for you and when he does, he'll know where and how to find you. And with Goku and Krillan making their appearances, he'll come back with reinforcements. You wouldn't last a second longer."

"Not without the proper training." Goku chimed in. "Master Roshi could train Laura."

"Laura…interesting name for your kind. So human. But I don't know if Master Roshi would take anymore students. He worked with you and Krillan and caused enough trouble as it is. I would think…"

"I'm not going anywhere and learn anything. If there is a sign that Radditz will return for me then I will run away. I won't stick around to get myself killed. All I know is that I do not want to learn how to fight." I cut in before they could take everything much further.

Goku sighed and leaned his arms down on the bed and looked thoughtfully at me. If he kept that up, I'd do anything he asked of me. "When Radditz appeared, did you feel this force enter your body that it shook you down to your toes and bring up your guard inside you? All you wanted to do was scope it out and fight in defense of the surrounding people?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded slightly.

He continued. "If you felt his presence, then he felt yours. And he can sense energy or ki like we call it, he can find you and Max in a matter of moments. I felt him and came to the defense and so did you. No matter how far you run, he would find you. That is the unfortunate part about who we are. We were born to fight as warriors." He looked down at his folded arms on the bed and then glanced back up at me.

My whole body began to shiver as I realized what they were saying was probably true. If I go back, he would come for me and I would be putting people in danger. But I couldn't go with these people. I was fortunate that they were there to rescue me but I didn't want to stay with them. There had to be another place I could go.

Before I could ask, Bulma spoke up again. "It's a cruel way to break things to you but Goku is right. You need to learn how to defend yourself so You can be ready for his return. And trust me, I am not talking about just any training." She eyed Goku then me. "I've seen what this training is and it's nothing like normal fighting." Then she sighed, "We'll have to save this conversation for another day. We need to let her rest for another night and when she regains her complete strength, then we can talk."

The blue haired woman checked my pulse then my heartbeat and then checked my forehead for any signs of fever but the fever was raging inside of me ready to spill out and demand explanations. She then whispered something to Goku then left quietly and shut the door. I could hear Max whine just slightly.

"I was warned not to hound you with too many questions. It's a lot to take in all in one day." Goku admitted and stood up. "I hope what I told you didn't scare you too much. It wasn't my intent but…it needed to be said sooner or later. Best you find out all at once. I suppose." He made a funny smile and rubbed the back of his head in a bashful manner. It really made me consider the sincerity in these people.

"I have a lot to think about." I whispered, even though I knew my choice. I couldn't stick around here and become this…fighter or warrior like they said I was. I was…me. Different and slightly looked down upon but me none the less. Max was the only one who accepted me for who I was and that was all I needed.

Right?


End file.
